Duke Energy Offers $120/kW Battery Incentive to NC Businesses
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Marin Holt
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- $120/kW for commercial battery storage
- $150/kW when battery storage is paired with solar
- targeting 500 commercial customers and 26 MW over five years
- NCUC approved 1,100 MW of new battery storage in November 2024 Carolina Resource Plan
- Duke filed $1.7B battery storage investment in November 2025 multiyear rate plan
- Duke Energy 2024 RFP targets 1,050 MW of solar paired with approximately 400 MW of storage
Duke Energy filed a non-residential battery storage demand response program with the North Carolina Utilities Commission in September 2025, proposing to pay businesses $120 per kilowatt for battery installations and $150 per kilowatt when paired with solar. Coverage in December 2025 confirmed the filing is awaiting NCUC approval. If approved, the program targets 500 commercial customers over five years and 26 MW of enrolled battery capacity.
Critical Perspective
Duke Energy proposes a $120/kW incentive, targeting 500 commercial customers and 26 MW of capacity over five years. This program mirrors PJM’s approach to demand response, yet PJM’s capacity markets have historically struggled with consistent revenue streams for storage. Remember the failed Solyndra solar project, which received substantial government backing but ultimately collapsed due to market realities. Will this Duke Energy program truly deliver the projected $13.6 million in customer savings, or will it become another costly experiment in grid modernization?
How the Program Works
Participating businesses install battery storage and allow Duke Energy to remotely dispatch the batteries during peak demand events. In exchange, customers receive two forms of compensation: an upfront incentive payment ($120/kW for battery-only, $150/kW for battery plus solar), and ongoing bill credits each time Duke dispatches the system. A 100 kW battery dispatched 36 times per year generates approximately $250 per month in bill credits, plus additional compensation per dispatch event. Non-residential customers with existing solar arrays qualify to add batteries to those systems, which differs from the residential PowerPair program. Duke has already operated a residential version of this program and considers the commercial extension a logical expansion.
Why This Matters for Industrial Customers
Demand charges — utility fees based on peak consumption measured over a 15-minute window — represent 30 to 50 percent of a typical commercial or industrial electricity bill. A single equipment startup or production spike can set the demand charge for the entire month. Battery storage addresses this directly: the system discharges during the brief peak interval, clipping the 15-minute demand reading and reducing the charge. The Duke program adds a second revenue stream on top of demand charge savings. Businesses reduce their own peak demand charge while also earning income from the utility for providing grid flexibility. Over the five-year program period, Duke projects total customer savings of $13.6 million across the 500 enrolled businesses. The program administration costs $11.8 million, and Duke estimates enrollees will displace nearly 28 MW of otherwise-needed power plant capacity.
Implementation Details
Eligible participants include businesses, local governments, and nonprofits across Duke Energy’s North Carolina service territory — roughly 4 million customers spanning manufacturing, offices, retail, and municipal facilities. The NCUC filing is under review; approval timing is not yet set. The program structure mirrors established demand response programs in PJM, CAISO, and ISO-NE markets, but packages utility incentives, solar pairing, and demand charge reduction into a single commercial product. For industrial customers currently paying high demand charges on rate schedules like Duke’s GS-2 or GSDT, this program provides a funded path to install storage without bearing the full capital cost. The $150/kW incentive for battery-plus-solar covers a meaningful share of a typical commercial BESS installation at current market prices.
Source: NC Newsline
Critical Analysis
Commercial battery storage inverters (10-500 kW, 480 V three-phase) produce THDi of 3-8% during normal discharge and up to 12% during high-rate demand charge reduction dispatch; IEEE 519-2022 Table 2 limits TDD to 5% at the ISC/IL < 20 tier for commercial service points, meaning each of the 500 enrolled Duke customers requires site-level harmonic assessment at interconnection. 26 MW of coordinated demand reduction from 500 commercial customers directly reduces Duke Energy's coincident peak on North Carolina distribution feeders, lowering transformer loading during the critical 15-minute demand windows.
5-Year Projection
Within 5 years, these regulatory frameworks surrounding Battery Storage will strictly govern hardware procurement, rendering non-compliant legacy systems obsolete.
Why It Matters
This North Carolina proposal
